Garden Dreaming...

Frida Kahlo Rose

Now that I will be moving into a house with an actual yard, I've been thinking about gardening.  Mostly vegetable gardening, but then I came across this beautiful rose, so now all I can think about is flower gardening.

I can't wait to get moved...my daughter and her family have started the move, but the previous owners of the house left some heavy unusable furniture in my space.  I have until the end of the month to vacate my apartment, but since I'm off for four days beginning this Thursday, I want to get EVERYTHING ready to go! 

Then...I want to start ordering some plants...herbs, flowers, all of that stuff!  We have window boxes to fill and lots of space for all kinds of gardens.  Can't wait!

June...

Yesterday was the perfect June day...clear and sunny, no humidity, and warm.  I finally managed to drag the big bags of Miracle Grow potting soil from my trunk to my back yard.  Whew!  I planted a few more pots for the front steps, and the remainder of the soil went into my old faithful two-part washtub.  I came across a gigantic sale of spring/summer bulbs at Walmart last week...25 cents per bag.  I bought perennial cinnamon ferns, Tennessee orchid ferns, dinner plate dahlias, calla lilies, and one of my very favorites, lily of the valley.  The lily of the valley won't do much this year, but maybe by next spring, I'll have the little white bells scenting the back yard.

Cinnamon ferns and orchid ferns should soon be spilling out of this!

My front porch looks basically the same every year...geraniums, herbs, a few annuals in pots.  Pretty easy upkeep, if I can manage to keep them watered!

I'm still plugging along on my Alabama Chanin stitching.  Pretty slow going, but I know that I'll love it.  Our Mixed Media Club at the library has been working on a few AC-inspired projects too...book covers, flowers, and at the end of this month, fingerless gloves.  We've all decided that it's nice to sit and stitch in a group setting...easy conversation, and the time passes so quickly.

Our summer reading program has begun at the library...we're calling it the Summer Learning Program this year.  I've taken on the project of Free Art Friday.  Each week, I drop off 3 little pieces of art somewhere in the city, then I take a photo of it and post it on our library's social media accounts.  We've put little cards in with the artwork so that the lucky recipient can tag us back and let us know that it has found a new home.  Here's what we dropped off last Friday:

End of the month-February Review

For a short month, this one seems to be never ending...up until mid-month, we've had fairly decent winter weather...no snows since mid-November, some pleasant days (February 7 comes to mind...61 degrees, sunny...a glass of wine on the porch kind of day).  Then the dreaded cold, snowy, icy weather hit Southwest Indiana.  I'm certain no one feels my pain...those folks on the East coast have had more than enough misery to last a lifetime.  Most of the country has...and we're all ready for a beautiful Spring, right?

I'm really looking forward to the Country Living Fair in the Nashville area.  For years a friend and I have talked about going to the one in Columbus, Ohio.  We're both transplanted "Buckeyes" and would love to wander around the many (fabulous) places in Ohio.  Seems like the September dates of the Ohio CL Fair are never do-able for us.  As soon as I saw the Nashville (Lebanon) location advertised, I ordered tickets.  

 I've been in an "order it online" mood recently...so much easier than traipsing around in snow and ice.  I've received my seed order from Heirloom Seeds:

Flower Seeds from Heirloom Seeds

 I've become almost obsessed with, of all things, stringing and knotting pearls.  It's become a sort of meditation.  I've assembled many parts of of to-be-completed jewelry.  One day soon I need to put it all together!  This is my practice necklace of champagne glass pearls.

First completed strand of hand-knotted pearls

 I'm in the process now of making a mala bead strand.  The lotus charm will be incorporated.  The charm and the blue beads in the following photo are from Lima Beads in Ann Arbor, MI.  It's my new favorite place to shop!

Lotus Charm

Pacific Blue Apatite

 I'm still working on my Alabama Chanin-inspired sweater.  Never-ending stitching and beading.

The month has been fueled by caffeine, as are most months.  I finally purchased a Chemex coffee carafe and now I'm part of the "slow-brew" crowd.  If I'm in a hurry, I fall back on the Keurig...so fast, so easy.  I've always been a fan of the 60's vibe Chemex with its glass and wood beauty, and now it's part of my coffee station.

Hope you've all had a productive month!

48 Days 'til Spring!

Seed catalogs galore...I've thumbed through them even though I have no intention of really starting anything from seed.  The only item that as tugged on my heartstrings is a beautiful little pastel poppy mix from Heirloom Seeds.

Mother of Pearl Poppy, sun or partial shade

This is the year I'll finally plant all of those Sweet Pea seeds I've accumulated.  I'm ready for all of that cheery color!  I really love the look of the Mother of Pearl poppy...they look so fragile, almost like tissue paper.  Want them!

Gardening in Miniature

I've been enjoying this book~~Gardening in Miniature by Janit Calvo. It's filled with ideas and plans for constructing your own miniature garden.  Even though I really like having a real life-sized garden, I don't have the room for much of anything other than the basics...herbs, a few tomato plants, and lettuces.  With this book as a guide, I can construct my own "Secret Garden"...a place for my mind to wander in the upcoming heat-infused months.  

                                         

                                           

No weather complaints from me yet...I'm just happy that Spring has finally found us!

It's a Cloche Party!

Today is the Cloche Party at A Stroll Thru Life. I've always loved the look of cloches covering tender plants in the garden early in the season. Other than cold frames, I think my first memory of seeing a cloched plant or start was early in the years of Country Living magazine when they had an article on starting roses from cuttings....there was a little row of rose cuttings covered by upturned Mason jars--a simple, beautiful garden vignette. I've searched through my magazine clippings, but couldn't locate the picture, but it will always remain in my memory.

I've used cloches to cover seedlings, but for the most part I use them purely for decorating, whether it's a crepe paper "cake", or tea cups, cloches add a touch of beauty.

All pictures above are mine, except the second from the left on top...it's a Google image of a large plastic jug with the bottom cut out and placed over plants in early spring...great idea!

Flag Day

Another start to a beautiful day here in SW Indiana. The storms are due in later today. In the meantime, I have more puttering to do in the little backyard. Even though it's small, I've certainly created a bit of a mess back there.

While at Rural King yesterday, I came across a large galvanized tub. It was deeply discounted--I think it had been used for a display as it was a little dusty and dirty inside. Since I was just going to put more soil in it, it was definitely a bargain. I transplanted the basil there, and added sage and thyme.

Mulch was spread...lots of big bags of stuff carried out of the car, across the street, and into the back yard. My arms ache today, but the work is not finished.

Sunday Stuff

I must be feeling especially chatty today...no one home to talk to, so this is my second post of the day.

With proceeds from yesterday's sale, I purchased some annuals for my two iron flower boxes for the front porch. Small white Wave petunias, and coral tuberous begonias (ii?). I bought the boxes at the Ferdinand yard sale a few weeks ago...two iron boxes with a dragonfly on the front. I did't have any coco mat around to line them, so I cut a few layers of burlap, lined the bottom of the planter with a large zip-lock bag and filled it with soil. It seems to work.

I feel like I'm so late in planting things this year, but it's been such an odd Spring. I still need to work on a raised bed in the back courtyard. That little area has been so neglected. The first year I lived here, I put in a pond (in a whiskey barrell), and had a really pretty container garden. It's been downhill since then. I walked out there yesterday to get the umbrella from the basement and lamnia and other assorted weeds were nearly knee-deep. I pulled a garbage bag full of weeds so far today. Little by little. Sometimes I feel like I need "man-hands" around to help with some of this...especially when I'm in building-mode.

An update on the brioche...something went terribly wrong! The dough was so moist...I added a bit more flour, let it rise, and ended up plopping it in a bread pan instead of rolling (impossible to do) it into triangles and rolling them up. It baked into an inedible brick...truly my worst baking disaster. I ended up making cherry ginger scones (inspired by Vee's scone making) instead and they were delicious.

The drink of the day: Fresh lemonade with a splash of Limoncella. Yum.

Friday

The picture in yesterday's post was a tray displayed at the National Cathedral Gift Shop. It is a portion of a quote from Nietzsche...here's the whole quote from translation:

"We are unknown to ourselves, we men of knowledge--and with good reason. We have never sought ourselves--how could it happen that we should ever find ourselves? It has rightly been said: 'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also' [Matthew 6.21]; our treasure is where the beehives of our knowledge are. We are constantly making for them, being by nature winged creatures and honey- gatherers of the spirit; there is one thing alone we really care about from the heart--'bringing something home.' Whatever else there is in life, so-called ,'experiences'--which of us has sufficient earnestness for them? Or sufficient time? Present experience has, I am afraid, always found us 'absent-minded': we cannot give our hearts to it--not even our ears! Rather, as one divinely preoccupied and immersed in himself into whose ear the bell has just boomed with all its strength the twelve beats of noon suddenly starts up and asks himself: 'what really was that which just struck?' so we sometimes rub our ears afterward and ask, utterly surprised and disconcerted, 'what really was that which we have just experi- enced?' and moreover: 'who are we really?' and, afterward as aforesaid, count the twelve trembling bell-strokes of our experience, our life, our being--and alas! miscount them.--So we are necessarily strangers to ourselves, we do not comprehend our- selves, we have to misunderstand ourselves, for us the law 'Each is furthest from himself' applies to all eternity--we are not 'men of knowledge' with respect to ourselves." -- Basic Writings of Nietzsche, ed. & trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Modern Library, 1968).

I get so lost reading that...are you still with me?

Today has been fairly productive; my geraniums are potted and placed on the front stairway, the tomato and companion marigolds are in the barrel, and the herbs are potted. I've pulled so many weeds growing between the bricks on the back walkway...they were pretty easy to pull, though. I'm so far ahead of last year with planting....I started my blog the day I put the plants out. I hope to get the sunporch cleared out and ready for some reading and relaxation.

Garden Anticipation

In my head and heart, I've been "in the garden"...in reality, it's been a busy week at work and school. Tuesday morning before work, I started purchasing plants for the garden and pots....two big rosemary plants (not as big as the one I saw in Georgetown, but give them a little time), pink geraniums for the front steps, a few shade plants for porch planting, some herbs, and a tomato plant. Tomorrow on my day off, I hope to get these guys in the soil...and scatter lots of seeds from seasons past. I can't wait!

Garden Remnants

Trimmed Lavender

The Basil Barrel

Sage and Miniature Rose

Until yesterday afternoon, I hadn't visited my little backyard for a few weeks. It just hadn't been a "destination" for several weeks...due to the high temperatures and lack of rain we had, my plantings weren't looking too good...and it was just too hard to fit in watering and plant care. This happens almost every year, but the spring is so full of promise...and I love to plant herbs and flowers. We've had a few very cold mornings this week...frost in some areas...but in this little microclimate near the river, look what survived and thrived...sweet basil! I'm going to cut back this forest in a barrel and make some pesto to freeze. The picture of the sage and rose...I should be ashamed; the rose was a goner, as was the sage. It fried to a crisp in the hot summer sun, so I dumped it in a little compost pile at the side of the house. Looks kinda nice now though!

Bulb Planting

I'm always thrown off by bulb planting. Yes, I "get it" that they have to overwinter to produce, but just when it's time to really enjoy the beauty of autumn...the leaves, the mums, the angle of the light...you have to remember to plant the spring bulbs. I remember one year I was planting bulbs as the snow was falling...this year is different; I purchased my bulbs this week at Sam's Club (it's so sad that Sam's is one of my most favorite places to shop). One box (70!!) of Angelique/Montreaux Double Tulips (shown above) and one box of Creme Upstar/Red Double Dutch Tulips...to be planted in half-barrels with an overplanting of mums. One planting, two seasons of color. With so many bulbs, I'll have a few for pots to be left out on the unheated back porch for early forcing.

Fairy Gardens

One of the special events in our Summer reading Program at the library was a Fairy Garden project in the children's room. Mulberry Jean's, a Newburgh shop featuring all matter of fairy garden materials put on the program. Everyone brought in a pot of soil, and they handed out a fairy garden kit. They were all so different...and very cute! The photo shown is from a google search for Fairy Gardens. More labor intensive, but very, very cool!

Lazy Daisy Saturday

What a lazy day...so hot...temps hovering around 96. I truly thought I'd expire after getting groceries carried into the house. The livingroom was a cool oasis...Mango Smoothie in hand, I recovered. No gardening today, so I thought I'd share a photo of Marguerite Daisies taken a few days ago.

Sunday Morning

Big rain last night...just enough so I didn't have to water my new plantings. I'll post pictures in a few days, as soon as the plants acclimate...

Bruschetta for dinner last night with fresh cuttings of basil. Yum!

Today's Agenda: scatter a few seeds...nasturtiums, more basil (can you ever have enough??), maybe a zinnia or two. I filled all of my pots with new soil before I dumped the remainder into the last whiskey half barrel. Ready to go...

Better Late Than Never...

"Springtime" planting...hmmm...almost summer. This morning I finally got the tomatoes in the ground, the basil in the barrels, and a few annuals scattered around the tiny backyard garden. With a little rain and a few more days, they will look so much better. The two pots of basil planted a week or so ago have really taken off; time for a little harvest.